The one word that best summarizes our trip to Fuengirola is probably "chemistry". It is an inside joke that we will probably appreciate even more in hindsight, but the group dynamics present in the planning and execution of this trip could potentially provide a slew of sociology theses. Imagine six current or former Cornell students traveling to Spain together, four of which are "old" friends, four guys and two girls, two newly formed couples, the other two guys unaware that the girls were coming until their tickets were bought (with Sandeep finding this out four days before departure), three southern Indians, two Americans of Chinese heritage, and a northern Norwegian. Ah yes, needless to say there was plenty of "chemistry".

Yet despite these prospects, we had a fabulous time. The initial "planned" group was made up of Sandeep Ravindran, Aditya Rao, Dhruva Karle, Michelle Li, Tracy Wang, and I (Haakon Ringberg). Sadly Michelle realized the day of our departure (less than nine hours before, to be exact) that she had an expired passport and couldn't make the trip. This understandably reduced the complexity of the group dynamics to interactions between "the three guys" (a.k.a. the "cognac connoisseurs") and "the couple", with us guys staying at the original hotel and Dhruva & Tracy staying at a hostel in Fuengirola.

We touched down early Saturday morning (March 20th 2004) to Fuengirola, and (true to form) Aditya found a new best friend within minutes of our arrival. We had some initial trouble trying to read Spanish train schedules, but three CS majors can undoubtedly solve any problem. Our vacation started the moment we arrived to the hotel, as Sandeep and I wrote another chapter in our epic duel for spring-break ping-pong supremacy.

We had hoped to attend a soccer game in Seville on Sunday, but we arrived too late into Malaga. We later found out, to our frustration, that it had been a local derby between Seville and Malaga where a former Malaga player scored the winning goal for Seville (alas). To alleviate our disappointment we attended a rather kinky bull fighting show in Marbella. After a long day of many busses, we recharged our batteries with some heavy fuel (lyrics).

On Monday Sandeep, Aditya, and I (and Dhruva & Tracy independently) explored Malaga. There were beautiful old buildings and architecture abound. Us three boys had an orgasmic lunch at "Elrescoldo Restaurante Meson" - I highly recommend the house white. We were supposed to meet "the couple" outside the local Picasso museum (Picasso was born in Malaga), but the aforementioned lunch prohibited such an encounter (and the museum was closed on Mondays at any rate). Subsequent to our lunch and some further exploring we rested our tired fannies at a local cafe. In the evening we spent more time exploring Fuengirola.

On Tuesday the whole crew had a tremendous dinner at "Restaurante Bodega Charolais" in Fuengirola. With a impressive selection of alcohol and the best food of our stay, this restaurant is definitely a required visit if you are ever in Fuengirola. Dhruva's pork was very good, my sirloin stake was splendid, and Sandeep's duck was other-worldly. The dinner also provided another one of the many hilarious interactions between Dhruva and Tracy. By the end of the trip, Dhruva had perfected the submissive boyfriend persona (while Sandeep was perfecting something else).

This time Dhruva was trying to explain what he and Tracy had been doing earlier in the day (it is important to keep in mind that Tracy is giving Dhruva an exceedingly stern look throughout Dhruva's blunder): "we were sleeping together.... uhhhh... we were lying together... errrr.... on separate beds... uhhh.... I'm sorry... you're beautiful... and I love you.... and now she doesn't want me anymore." Oh, and this was after he had made the statement "I'm too tired to think, I just want to do something physical."

Looking hung-over and sitting on his hands, Aditya peers up from underneath his coffee mug on Wednesday morning and says "my ass is sore." There was a fantastically timely photograph of this moment, but sadly the evidence was destroyed by Mr. Rao. The afternoon was spent playing lackadaisical tennis in the sun, and enjoying the beautiful view from our hotel. We then shot into Malaga for a quick tour of the Picasso museum that we missed on Monday. Filling the days with so much activity, it becomes crucial to take advantage of every opportunity to rest. Later in the day, us three guys had another great dinner (are you seeing a pattern yet?), this time at "Restaurante El Dorado" in Fuengirola. The mussel (clam?) appetizer is highly recommended.

On Thursday, Sandeep and I took a train to Seville. The entire city was full of history and culture, and we topped it off by walking through the old town (Santa Cruz). The center square in Santa Cruz has some restaurants whose surroundings cannot be described. The menus were slightly too eclectic for our tastes, however, and do not expect to find a place that will serve you only desert (trust me, we tried). The two of us finished it off with a solid dinner at Restaurante Meson (the honey roasted rack of lamb is very good). Dhruva, Tracy, and Aditya, on the other hand, spent the day trekking the Fuengirola mountains.

On Friday we were sad to go and Spain was sad to see us leave (remarkably this was the only day it rained during our stay). Here you see Dhruva, Tracy, and I enjoying our last bit of Spanish freedom at the Malaga aeroporto. Until next year!

P.S. A picture of Tromsø from Christmas break (I always have some old pictures in my camera).